Monday, 25 July 2011

All one in Christ Jesus

On Sunday we continued our series in the book of Acts .We looked at Chapter 16 which describes Paul's second missionary journey ,this time accompanied by Silas.The thing that struck me was that on the journey there must have been many converts, but in Phillipi we are told about only three. The businesswoman Lydia ,the demon possessed girl ,(most commentators assume she was converted), and the jailer.

Three different people who as Stott points out are racially,socially,intellectually and psychologically worlds apart, and yet are united in Jesus Christ & become founder members of the Phillippian church.
The gospel unites in one family those who believe
We also shared communion together.In communion we don't just remember that Christ died for me(though thank God He did!) but that Christ died for all and to create a new community from every tongue and tribe and race and indeed (if we think about the church triumphant ) from every age

I felt a very heavy heart as I watched the news this weekend which focused on the terrible massacre in Norway and the unbearably sad consequences for the victims families that will endure long after the TV cameras and other journalists have moved on somewhere else. Although the murderers motives are not yet fully clear,it seems his purpose was to divide and destroy.
The hope of the gospel is that ultimately good will triumph over evil ,light over darkness and hope over despair
It is a message that Christians should not only share but demonstrate as well
In the words of a popular song when I was a young Christian- They will know we are Christians by our love